Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Is Your Child Too Young To Workout?


A question I'm asked a lot and I'm sure is on a few of my readers minds, is my child too young to start working out. The answer is simple ... but complicated at the same time, no your child is not too young to start working out, however it's how they workout and how they perceive the activity. You also need to ask yourself, why is it that you feel your child needs an increase in physical activity.

Most children receive plenty of physical activity (or should) while at school and after school with friends and family. I don't know if you've noticed but most children even take every day activities such as getting on the bus or shopping as an excuse to run, jump, climb, and pretend to be ninjas! Just think about how much a small child runs around our big, big adult sized world all day long. Imagine having to walk or run double/triple the distance to work every single day, or having to actually climb up on to the couch and back down again multiple times per day! I'm sure if this were the case, most adults would be in much better "functional" shape out of sheer necessity. Furthermore, children have excellent flexibility and mobility due to their soft, young, developing joints ... so there's really almost no need to attempt to improve upon that area of your child's health. If you want to see an example on this, just watch a small child next time they want to pick something up that they see on the ground. I can almost guarantee that they will perform a perfect full range squat (ass to heels) and be able to not only balance there, but stand right back up without batting an eye lash. This is something most 20 year old's have trouble with!

So why would you want to introduce your child to a fitness program? Simple, they won't always be a child. That's right, we all (even you) once started out as that small child who ran around, climbed, jumped, rolled, and bent all day long. However, over time for one reason or another most people stop moving and lose all that mobility, flexibility, energy, and strength! But this doesn't have to be the case with your child. By introducing your child to a health and fitness program at a young age you can actually help them sustain this level of fitness forever. Here are my tips to help you and your child not only form a bond, but stay in excellent shape.

1. Make the workouts appear FUN ... make them play time!

If something is not fun, we wont want to do it ... period! So when you're working out with your child please don't think of it as a "workout". Make it fun by turning the workout into a game, contest, or sport. Not only will this appeal more to your child, but it will also instill a healthy sense of competition.

2. Keep the workouts short and sweet.

It can be tough to keep children occupied and interested for a long period of time, so keep the activity short and sweet. Kids love to run, so why not run short sets of sprints at the park with the dog or set up a makeshift obstacle course for them to run through 3 times with out rest against mom or dad?

3. Body Weight is best!

Body weight exercises are safe and can be done, anywhere, any time, by anyone ... even kids! Most martial arts experts and gymnasts begin their training at a very young age using body weight techniques only. I can't think of better examples than those to prove how body weight training is sustainable for your entire life, and will help you maintain the supple joints of childhood while building tremendous strength well into adulthood. It's all a matter of progressing the exercises safely, something I cover extensively in my Body Weight Training Specialist Certifications as well as my book "The Body Weight Solution".

4. Get outside

Most kids (and adults) spend too much time indoors with school, home work, video games, T.V., and the internet. Getting them outside and back into our natural environment will help set a feeling of freedom and prime them for some physical activity. Try heading to the park, take them to a local jungle gym and let them play or workout with you. You would be amazed at what you can do on a simple jungle gym!

5. Get them into some sort of physical activity or sport.

When I was young all I wanted to do was learn martial arts. I was lucky enough that my family found a great school and I was able to become a student. Some children might like gymnastics, dance, hockey, football, soccer, or just working out ... it doesn't matter as long as it's physical and gets them moving!

... So there you have it, those are just 5 tips to help you and your child bond together and improve their future health through fitness. Remember to keep it fun and exciting for them, they'll be getting an excellent workout whether they know it or not!




* Just a reminder to all that the next Jungle Fit "Body Weight Specialist Certification" will be held in Kingston ON, Canada at the Jungle Fit studio October 22nd, 2011. I hope to see you all there, you can register at www.Jungle-Fit.com

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The "Warrior Conditioning Workout" DVD!


This summer I shot my first fitness DVD, it will be released this fall (Fall 2011) and will be available for purchase through my website www.Jungle-Fit.com! It was one heck of an experience, and took a lot more time, effort, and planning than I originally thought. But, in the end I'm beyond happy with the product and I'm confident that the content is better than 99% of the other fitness DVDs on the market, and the over all look and feel is simply AMAZING!

The DVD is titled the "Warrior Conditioning Workout" , and I named it that for a good reason. After months of testing out dozens of workouts on myself and my very sore but excellent clients, it all came down to this one workout. I wanted a workout that would not only improve the trainee's flexibility, mobility, functional strength, and conditioning but also one that would do what everyone wants ... make you look damn good! I wanted people to feel like a warrior at the end of each workout, I wanted them to feel like when it was all over they just got out of a fight ... and better yet I wanted them to feel like a one person army! I can honestly say that this workout hit the nail on the head.

The "Warrior" is comprised of only body weight exercises, meaning you need very little to no equipment to actually perform the workout. It's also broken down into three stages of difficulty, there's a beginner, intermediate, and "Warrior" (advanced) workout. So regardless of your age, sex, fitness level, or access to equipment, you too can work towards building your own fitness level and body to a "Warrior" status! The DVD breaks down over 40 exercises into acute detail so that you can feel confident that you're performing each and every exercise correctly with razor sharp precision. It's almost like having me right there working on the techniques with you! Unlike a lot of other fitness DVD's that are shot from one solid angle, we shot the "Warrior Workout" from multiple angles so that you always see whats happening and have a clear idea how each technique should be performed. The exercises are hand picked by myself and include some of my absolute favourite techniques for improving body composition, shedding body fat, and improving in all aspects of movement. The finishing exercise at the end of the workout is a killer combination of techniques rolled into one excellent sequence that I personally, love to hate! The "Warrior Conditioning Workout" is the perfect DVD for anyone who's looking to deepen their understanding of body weight training and spice up their routine with some time tested and true exercises ... by time test and true I mean thousands of years old! The "Warrior Conditioning Workout" includes exercises that have been used by Indian wrestlers for thousands of years an pre date yoga! Many of the techniques have also be borrowed from various forms of martial arts such as Karate, Judo, Jujitsu, and Wrestling. Such forces as the Marines, Russian Spetsnaz, Spartans have also incorporated many of the techniques that have been included in the "Warrior Conditioning Workout"!

You don't have to be a warrior to look like one! If you're looking to challenge your fitness and take your body weight training to the next level then you need to grab yourself a copy of the Jungle Fit "Warrior Conditioning Workout"!